With close to half of the first-round picks expected to be defensemen in the upcoming NHL Draft on Friday, the Boston Herald reports that Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli will find a suitable blueliner with the team's 24th pick.

"There's a lot of good defensemen in this draft," Chiarelli told the paper. "The number of defensemen -- I've never seen it, the number of (potential) NHL defensemen this large. If we don't get a defenseman we'll be fine, because there's always good players, but we're hoping that some will slip (to No. 24)."

However, Chiarelli has admitted that some uncertainty remains in the first round, especially following the first half of the round one. The GM is exploring various scenarios, including the possibility of trying to trade up or down.

"At the table we'll have five or six trade-down scenarios, five or six trade-up scenarios, and you know, I'll have tried to cue up or at least plant the seeds leading into Friday," said Chiarelli. "Then on Friday, I'll flesh them out as the draft progresses."

Chiareilli also stated that he is looking to add a netminder, while his scouts are set to be seeking size at all positions.

Meanwhile, the Bruins are not likely to take part in any blockbuster trades or free-agent acquisitions, but are expected to wait until after free agency fades out after July 1 to make potential adjustments when the "secondary" trade market begins.

"I'm probably more apt to wait till the free agent market and then the secondary trade market," Chiarelli added. "I call it the secondary trade market, but it's fairly significant. So my objective will probably be to wait, unless something falls in my lap."